


Decemberunderground

by thatscalledyes



Series: AFI albums [1]
Category: AFI
Genre: AFI - Freeform, Decemberunderground, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:17:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatscalledyes/pseuds/thatscalledyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>I flee to, I flee to decemberunderground.</em><br/>As you exhale, I breathe in and sink into,<br/>The water underground,<br/>And I grow pale without you.
</p>
<p>This is going to be something very different than you have ever read before. Instead of just a normal story about a boy and a girl, I'm going to tell you the story of the album, Decemberunderground, through my eyes and through the characters Avery and Davey. Each song is a chapter in this album, and each song has it's own story. Each story links to one another, creating the story of the album, Decemberunderground.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude 12/21

Death is never expected. It’s never given a set day, hour, minute, or second. It’s thrust upon us like a casting net, trapping all of us in a sea of sorrow. Gathered here in this one room, were all that were trapped in the casting net. All had one thing in common. They knew the dead.

As said, death is never expected. Avery’s brother never saw it coming, and neither did anyone else. Driving down the dark streets, close to the hour of midnight isn’t necessarily a safe procedure for anyone; especially someone on a motorcycle.

A single idiot not paying attention to the signs on the road was the one thing separating Avery’s brother from life and death. Death prevailed.

Everyone questioned why he was riding his motorcycle in December, the dead of winter. Avery’s brother simply said why not. ‘Why not’ bought him a one way ticket to the valley of lifeless, cold shadows.

Avery scanned the room of everyone dressed in black. They all looked the same. Their faces were drained of all color, their eyes were dead and hollow, and their movements were slow. Everyone was stuck in the molasses of grief.

Occasionally, a comforting hand would find its way to her shoulder, rubbing circles, and followed by sympathetic eyes boring into her own. Most of the time, she shrugged it off. She wanted nothing to do with sympathies from others. She was sad, but in a way, she felt her brother deserved this.

“How are you doing?” Her best friend’s voice drifted through her ear canals.

Avery shrugged. “Fine, I suppose. Everyone has been very caring and sympathetic.”

Her friend, Hadley, nodded. “Adalynn’s here. Did you see?” Hadley pointed across the room at Avery’s brother’s girlfriend.

Avery saw her but looked past her and stared at the man she was with. “Who is that with her?” Avery asked. She examined him carefully. He was the only one in the room who looked as dark as she. He had black hair, long bangs that swooped to the side and covered half his face. The rest of his hair was cut short. He wore an all-black suit, but not a tuxedo suit. This was different. He wore makeup, which made him stand out from the crowd. His eyelashes were long, and gracing his lips was a tiny, silver ring.

“That’s Adalynn’s brother, Davey. I really don’t know why he tagged along.” Hadley admitted. “He’s really kind of strange. I’ve never heard him talk before, to anyone. He seems very reserved.”

Avery just stared at him, and couldn’t look away, even when she saw him catch her stare. He blended in with the rest of the fish caught in the net. He moved slow, and showed no other emotion.

As the crowd began to thin out, Avery looked for him. She wanted to approach him, and gain the possibility of him speaking to her. But he had disappeared, as well as his sister. She was never going to see him again.

When everyone had left the room, Avery approached the casket containing her brother’s still, frozen body. She looked down at his closed eyes, and remembered what he had told her once: Kiss my eyes, and lay me to sleep.

She elongated her neck and lowered her head into the open casket. She pressed a kiss on each of his eyelids, leaving a red mark from her lipstick. She closed the casket and turned around to see Davey standing there watching her. He had witnessed the whole thing.


	2. Miss Murder

The way that he looked at her made her think that he knew more than she thought, which was strange because she had only just seen him for the very first time today. They hadn’t even formally met yet. He took slow steps towards her, making the floor boards creak beneath his feet.

“Sometimes,” He said, pulling a switch blade out of his pocket. “Death can be expected.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him. He dragged the tip of the knife up her arm, but in such a way that left no markings.

She gulped. “What are you implying?” Her breathing quickened and became heavy.

Davey’s other hand wrapped around her throat, and he pressed his forehead against her temple. “Dreams of his crash won’t pass. Oh, how they all adored him.”

Avery could feel her heart beat racing at the speed of light. She didn’t know if Davey was about to slit her throat or not. She didn’t know how he knew. She had kept everything a secret. She pretended like nothing had happened. She had mastered the art of acting.

He released his grip on her throat and backed away from her. He held the knife up to his own throat and made sure that he was looking right into her murderous eyes. “Hey, miss murder. Can I make beauty stay if I take my life?” He pressed the knife closer to his skin and she could see he was about to pull and be done.

“No!” She cried, dropping to her knees. “I did it.”

He dropped the knife and watched her as she wept on the ground. He nodded, and dropped a piece of paper by her before walking out of the funeral home and into the snowy, December night.

She looked up and saw him gone, but then spotted the piece of paper by her side. She picked it up and unfolded it, revealing a picture of three black rabbits in a circle. Beneath the picture, was a time: 3 AM.

What could that possibly mean? She thought but came up with nothing. Right now, she knew she needed to get home before anything else strange happened. This wasn’t how she had planned for things to go. If Davey knew, who else knew but was keeping silent?


	3. The Killing Lights

Three AM on the city street was a lonely place to be. Avery had no idea why she had listened to a piece of paper dictating what time she should be searching for a place with three black rabbits in a circle. The streets glistened under the killing lights of the lampposts and near by store fronts. It had rained earlier, and the ground gave off that fresh scent.

She walked along, staring down at the piece of paper in her hands. She'd never seen anywhere with a logo containing three black rabbits. The significance was mysterious. She stopped walking, and stared down at the piece of paper still. Folding it up, she kept her head down and her eyes cast on the drowning sidewalk. By her feet was a watery chalk drawing of three black rabbits in a circle. When she looked up, Davey was standing before her.

"You made it, I see." He stated, not bothering to take a step forward to greet her. He simply kept his hands in his jacket pockets and stared at her with those brown eyes of his. They looked so dark, they almost appeared black, like the rest of his outfit.

"What am I doing here?" She asked him.

He turned on his heel and began walking away from her without an answer.

She quickened her pace and caught up, stepping into stride next to him. "Are you going to answer my question?" She asked.

From beneath his jacket, he pulled out a large bottle of alcohol and handed to her. "For you." He said. "Drink up. We have a long night ahead of us."

She didn't understand. He was refusing to answer her questions and he handed her a bottle of wine from out of nowhere. What kind of person was he exactly?

She shook it off, deciding maybe a drink or two would do her good. She could start to get her mind of the strange aura surrounding Davey and maybe try to have fun with him. Because of how strange he was, it only made her more interested. She wanted to know everything hidden in the depths of his mind. She wanted to peer into his dreams, his memories, and feed on his deepest secrets.

Suddenly, he stopped walking. Avery found him standing in front of glass double doors to an apartment complex building.

"Am I beautiful?" He asked her with a look of all seriousness written on his face.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "Of course you are."

He smiled slightly at her answer, but then the corners of his lips dropped and formed a flat line. "Am I usable?"

She didn't know how to respond to that. She barely knew him. How was she supposed to judge his personality like that already? He had barely given her any personality to work with.

He dropped the question and led her inside. They trudged up two flights of stairs to reach his apartment on the second floor. Avery kept sipping on the bottle he had given to her. She had told herself it would only be a few sips, but something about the liquid made her crave more. She felt obligated to consume it all in order to satisfy herself.

As soon as Davey shut the door behind her, everything became dark. She felt her body drop to the floor and the bottle slip out of her hands. She didn't know what had happened. All she knew was she couldn't wake up.

*****

Five AM on the bathroom floor from the night before with Davey kneeling over her was how she found herself after passing out in his living room hours earlier.

"Do you find me dreadful?" Davey stared into her eyes with his own.

Her mind was still foggy and her head was throbbing with pain. She didn't know who or what this man kneeling over her was. He asked the most un-relevant questions and kept a stone wall built around him.

She lifted herself onto her elbows and managed to speak only a single word. "Yes."


	4. The Missing Frame

Everything about his appearance seemed okay. She liked his eyes and the way his black bangs were long and the rest of his hair was cut short. She liked the long eyelashes. She thought they made his eyes look more interesting. She liked his thin lips with the silver band hugging the bottom. But his personality was cold and off putting. She wanted to accept him but he wasn't accepting her.

Avery pushed off the floor and managed to stand up, storming out of the bathroom and down the hallway into Davey's living room. She looked around the room and spotted the window out of the corner of her eye. She ran over to it, grasping the long curtains and pulling them down with such force that caused them to tumble down to the carpeted floor. She looked back and saw Davey was watching her.

It was though her body was possessed by another force. She couldn't control her movements. She flailed her arms, knocking over picture frames and glassware. Each item crashing to the floor and covering it in glass. She gripped her hair in fistfuls as she went around the room kicking things over and completely destroying Davey's entire living room. He simply stood there and watched.

"You're not going to stop me?" She asked, growling at him.

He shook his head slightly. "I'll let you break it up." He motioned to his living room that was now in pieces.

She didn't understand at the time but she was angry about many things. She was frustrated with Davey's cold nature. She wanted him to warm up, and reveal himself to her. She wanted to know his secrets, she wanted to peel back his layers and see what else was inside him. But he remained quiet, reserved and to himself. He gave away no secrets and refused to show his emotions.

In her rage, she kicked open the doors to his balcony and became entranced by the city lights. Her hair whipped around her face in the harsh December wind, and the snow fell gracefully around her. Her cheeks grew pink from the temperature, and her eyes glazed over with tears that froze to her skin as they rolled down her cheeks. What was he doing to her?

She heard the crunch of frozen snow and saw Davey standing next to her, looking out at the scene before them.

"It shines so beautifully." He commented on the city in front of them.

He reached over and placed his hand on the railing. She looked over at him as well, searching his face for some kind of answer.

"I'm... I'm sorry about destroying your living room." She broke her gaze from his face and looked down at the ground.

He shrugged. "We can repair it."

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at him. "Why do you do this? Why keep this stone wall built around you all the time?"

"Because," He stated. "No one cares."


	5. Kill Caustic

She ran her hands against the black velvet bedspread as she stared up at the ceiling. He had asked her to stay over for the rest of what was considered the night and into the morning. They had been up since 3 in the morning and hadn't gotten much sleep.

She shook her head against the pillow, filtering through her thoughts. She hadn't slept at all; just stared up at the ceiling, thinking about him being in the room just down the hall. Avery sat up, looking around his room. It was spotless. Davey was dark, sure, but he was the classiest person she had ever met. His room was simple. A bed with a black velvet blanket keeping the mattress warm, a dresser on the left containing all of his clothes that he treasured so much, a few framed pictures scattered on the walls here and there, and finally, the door leading out.

In her mind, she pictured his innocent looking eyes as his lips formed each syllable and each letter of every word he spoke. The snow was falling all around him and a few flakes had been trapped in his black hair. She observed the dramatic contrast of the white against the black. She couldn't say no to him. He would be left here all alone in the dead of winter. She pitied him.

Avery refused to let pity dictate her actions. Her bare feet met the frigid wood floor. The boards creaked from the temperature and she paused, hoping she didn't wake Davey. She didn't want him to know that she was leaving.

She tip-toed past him slumbering on the couch in the living room, and shut the door to the apartment quietly. The whole building seemed to be drenched in December.

Just as she reached the front door, a hand found its way to her shoulder. She spun around to find those innocent brown eyes looking into her own.

"How could you run from me?" He asked, his voice sounding the least bit unnatural.

She broke her gaze from his brown eyes and looked down at her still bare feet, tucking a piece of her black hair behind her ear.

"No," She shook her head. "I'm not running from you, I just--" She cut herself off, trying to think of what to say next. "I just figured I should get home." She finished.

He shook his head as well. "I know you wanted to get away from me, right?" He hung his head but cast his gaze upwards at her.

The intensity of his eyes took her mere breath away. She didn't want to admit the truth to him because she didn't want him to feel any worse than he probably already seemed to feel. It was strange. It was as though she could feel the pain, suffering, and sorrow radiating off his soul.

"I remain the one to blame." He continued.

Avery caressed his shoulder, letting her hand graze his elbow and eventually find his hand. She took his cold hand in her own. "Of course not." She wanted to make sure he knew that even if he thought he had no one, he had her.

The corners of his lips turned upward slightly to form a small smile. "Come, I want to show you something."

Avery furrowed her eyebrows. "But earlier you had said to me it was too dangerous to leave because of the storm," She motioned to the violent cascade of snowflakes pelting the glass doors. "And that's why I had to stay."

"It's too dangerous to drive," He said. "But that doesn't mean we can't walk."


	6. Love Like Winter

Davey held her hand the whole way there, which was surprising, because she never thought he would be the kind of guy to hold her hand; especially not for that long. It was still hard to see, but she could tell that his walls were beginning to thaw. She was beginning to melt the ice that clung to the walls of his heart.

He led her away from the city and into a wood covered in snow and ice. It was beautiful. To her, it was more beautiful than the city, and she held the city close to her own heart. The little bit of sunlight peeking in through the thick leaves made the snowflakes glisten as the shy heat slowly melted them away. She reached out to touch a branch covered in the powder, but Davey pulled her along.

"What is this place?" She asked, spun her head in all different directions, trying to take in each inch of the lace covered woods.

"Here it's December every day." He said, continuing to pull her along, not bothering to look back at her.

She gazed up at the tall pine trees as she passed by below their towering peaks. "I like that." She whispered.

Suddenly, he stopped, turning to face her and taking both her hands in his own. He didn't look at her eyes, but instead stared down at her cold, pale hands in his own. "I want to love you." He whispered.

His voice sent a shiver down her spine and she knew it wasn't because of the temperature. His voice was made of silk and his words were rich.

He shook his head. "But I don't know how. My love is like winter; harsh, cold, unnatural, and rough around the edges."

Avery searched his face for a sign of something. But all she could see was pale, blank stares. He left his eyes locked on her hands in his. He kept them held there all while he talked, focusing on the texture of her skin and trying not to think of her beauty.

She slipped her hand out of his grasp and reached up, caressing his frozen cheek. His black lashes were dotted with snowflakes and the breeze blew by, sending his hair back and revealing his desolate face.

At her touch, he glanced upward and his gaze was caught by her unending fairness. She blinked slowly as he lifted his head up more so he was looking straight into her eyes.

She didn't know how it happened, but one moment Davey was looking into her eyes. The next, she was nose to nose with him, staring down at his lips that were just inches from hers. She could feel his hesitation. She knew he was scared of something. Avery pushed every thought she had about Davey aside and let her instincts take control. She impulsively pressed her lips against Davey's and felt his body grow stiff at first touch. But as she held her lips against his, he softened and his body began to melt, like the snow in the sun.

Her lips had the power to drain all his suffering, agony, turmoil, and pain from the years before. She was able to rejuvenate his soul with a single kiss. She was teaching him how to love again.


	7. 37mm

Davey hadn't seen Avery in a few days and that worried him. He was afraid he had scared her off. Normally, he liked the solitude; no one could hurt him again that way; but with Avery, it was different. He longed for her presence beside him. His heart ached for her soft kiss. He was falling in love with her, and it scared him.

To clear his mind of things, he took a walk in the powdered woods where he had brought her; where they shared their first intimate moment: a single, but life changing kiss. He pushed the long, hanging branches aside and the snow tumbled down his tweed coat sleeve to the blanket of snow underneath his feet. As he pushed the next set of branches aside, he saw someone standing a few feet ahead. Their back was turned to him, and they had a black coat on with a large hood draped over their head. He slowed his pace as he watched the figure carefully. He slowly moved closer until a branch snapped underneath his foot, and he stopped in his tracks. Normally, he was the one scaring people away. This time, he was the one feeling scared.

The hooded figure turned around and a gust of wind blew the hood off their head, revealing Avery's stunning ivory skinned face. Her dark hair blew behind her and contrasted with the pure white snow all around her. Davey was shocked to see her, but still kept a solemn facial expression as her green eyes pierced his soul.

"I didn't expect to see you here." He said simply as he approached her. He kept his hands locked together behind his back, holding up the wall between her and his most vulnerable side.

She shrugged. "I told you I like this place." She reached for his hands but he resisted. She sighed, frustrated by his guard. "Why do you do this? Bring your secrets to me. Just give me your hands and I'll let you feel the wounds they put in me."

"You wouldn't believe the things I told you." He shook his head slightly. "If you'd believe me, I'd tell you everything."

Avery searched his eyes for a sign but his eyes had gone back to cold, dark brown stones, framed by his elongated lashes. "Press me to your lips and I'll suck the poison out, just like last time."

The temptation to shatter the wall was strong but something told him to keep his guard up for now. There was no telling what she could do to him. After all, she was Miss Murder.


	8. The Interview

"I want to start a band." He said to her with a slight smile playing on his lips.

It was the first time he had ever revealed anything personal to her; even something so minor. She could tell this was the beginning of a big change in their relationship.

"Who are you going to start this band with?" She questioned, pure curiosity filling her every word. She was genuinely interested, for he had never opened himself up at all before. His December flesh was melting away, just as the snow was outside his apartment.

"I..." He trailed off for a brief moment, debating with himself whether he should tell her or not. He always questioned the details of his life to expose, and the ones to keep hidden. One hundred percent of his life had been kept hidden from everyone, until now. "An old friend of mine." He continued. "Jade. He plays guitar. We always talked about forming a band one day, and something is telling me it's now."

Avery was surprised at the extent of Davey's conversation. It was the most amount of words he had ever spoken to her at once. "I think that sounds like a great idea." She smiled.

He smiled back, but then forced the smile away. Showing emotion? He couldn't. Instead, he took her by the hand and led her into his dark living room, sitting her down on the couch and seating himself in a chair across from her.

"For a change, I'll refrain from hiding all of me from you." He said, looking deep into her eyes. He had made the choice to stop being so passive, and allow her in through the tightly locked gates of his heart. "Today, this small favor I'm asking: hold me. You may drop me tomorrow."

She brought a hand to her heart at his words. With just those small, short sentences, she could feel all of his past pain sinking into her. A well of emotions suddenly surfaced and she couldn't explain what she was feeling.

The feelings dissipated as he spoke again. "When I was younger, I was thrown into a catholic school. God had never helped me, so I didn't think I should have to worship him in return." He pressed a hand against his neck and his fingers played with a sliver chain. From beneath his shirt, he revealed an inverted cross hanging on the chain. Avery watched the minimal light in the room glint off the jewelry.

"I told my mother and step father about my desire to be in a band, but was put down. Performing, putting on makeup, and being someone else was not God's work." He looked down at his long, painted nails. "But to me, being who I was normally, wasn't who I was born to be. I watched all my dreams fall through."

Avery stopped him. "What... What happened to your real father?"

Davey sighed. He was starting to realize that being open to another person brought back a lot of memories he had shoved to the back of his mind to collect dust and one day hopefully be destroyed. "He died when I was three."

"I'm so sorry." She half whispered, unable to bring her voice up to full volume.

He shook his head as to say it's not her fault. "I think that's enough for one day." He stood, walked around the back of the chair, down the hall, and disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. Avery felt as all of his progress had been drained and the gates were locked up tight again. She only got a glimpse of his pain. There was so much more hidden, so much more darkness, that she didn't see yet.


	9. Affliction

A knock on the door interrupted Davey's deep thoughts. He put down his pen and notebook on the coffee table before standing up and heading over to the apartment door. A small smile formed as he saw who stood in the doorway. Jade greeted him with a hug, and Davey didn't object, despite the fact he wasn't big on hugs.

"Avery?" Davey called to her and she turned around to see him standing there with another man beside him. "This is Jade."

Jade waved to her slightly and a blush creeped up on to Avery's cheeks. Jade was mighty attractive. She didn't want to hurt Davey but she liked Jade. And besides, Davey was simply her friend. She felt no emotional attachment other than a friendly caring.

Jade noticed the way Avery looked at him and he wasn't objecting at all. In fact, he liked her, too. He was unsure of the status between the two, so he kept his emotions neutral.

Davey was so wrapped up in excitement, he didn't notice Avery's wandering eyes. She had undressed Jade with her eyes more than three times already and there was no sign of her stopping. Jade felt uncomfortable, only because Davey was in the room.

"I really think we should start writing before we do anything else." Davey said, trying to sound as professional as possible. He wanted this band to take off. It was all he had ever dreamed of.

"How come you two haven't seen each other for a while?" Avery wondered aloud, thinking it was a harmless thought.

Both became utterly silent, and looked away from one another. "Excuse me." Davey stood as the pain became too much for him. He fled out of the room and into his bedroom, leaving the two lovers behind. When in the safety of his plain, neat and clean room, he pulled out a book of pictures from underneath his bed. On the front, Jade's name was written with a small heart next to it. All of the memories from their early high school years came flooding back as he remembered the day he made this book.

_"Hey, I'm Jade." Jade sat down next to a lonely looking Davey at the lunch table._

_Davey looked up at him. For the first time, he felt different for some odd reason. Butterflies fluttered their wings against the walls of his stomach as Jade looked into his eyes._

_"Do you want to be friends? I noticed you don't seem to have any. I don't really, either."_

_Davey nodded eagerly. Jade made him feel different already. He had never really liked many girls at school, but he had never liked any boys at school either until Jade came into his life._

"I fell in love..." He said out loud to himself.

Then, he thought back to the moment he had told Jade about his feelings; the day their friendship had ended for good, or so he thought.

_"Jade, I have to tell you something." Davey admitted as he wrung his hands together in a state of nervousness._

_"Is everything okay? Are you dying?" Jade became a ball of worry._

_"No," Davey laughed slightly, shaking his head. "I... I think I..." He was trying to say it but the words I love you refused to be released from his lips._

_Jade looked at him, waiting for the rest of the sentence to be revealed. "You think you what?" He asked, urging him to continue._

_Davey took in a deep breath. "I think I love you."_

_Jade stepped back. "Well, I love you too, dude."_

_Davey looked up. "Really?" He smiled, stepping forward and reaching for Jade._

_"Whoa," Jade held up his hands. "Not like that. I love you as a friend. Nothing more. Anything more would be just weird."_

_Davey dropped his reaching hands to his side and let them flop. "Oh."_

"He was my best friend." Davey spoke out loud to himself again and finally he thought back to a few days ago when he had called Jade and spoke to him again after all those years of being apart.

_"I'm over it, I told you already." Davey tried to convince him. "It was just a stupid adolescent phase I was going through. I found a girl, and I really like her." He thought of Avery, sleeping on the couch in his living room at that very moment. "I just want this band to happen. We always used to talk about how great it would be. I think we can make it a reality."_

_"Alright." Jade agreed. "I'll be over on Saturday to start working on things."_

Davey gripped the sides of the book tightly but then released his steel hold. He slid the book back under the bed and stood up, walking back out into the living room. He walked in on an empty room; Jade and Avery had disappeared.

Voices were coming from near the balcony, so he made his way over there. He peered around the corner and saw Jade and Avery standing on the balcony, hand in hand.


	10. Kiss and Control

"So you're sure you and Davey are just friends?" Jade asked, looking over at Avery, still holding on to her hand tightly.

"Pretty sure." She responded, not even glancing his way.

Jade let go of her hand. "I need you to be entirely sure." He said, looking down at the ground and then back up at her. "Davey can be fragile and I don't want to do anything that could hurt him."

"You already did." Davey spoke up, and Jade's head snapped in his direction.

"Davey, I--" Jade began but Davey stopped him by holding up one hand.

"Go ahead." Davey said. "Kiss." He paused. "And control all of our broken hearts..." He turned and began walking away.

Jade deserted Avery at the balcony and chased after Davey. "Davey stop." Jade caught him in the hallway. "What is going on with you? Are you still into me or something?"

"And what if I am?" He challenged.

"Davey..." Jade shook his head.

"It's not you, Jade." Davey said, turning his back again.

"Don't walk away from me." Jade spoke sternly. "Do you love her?"

Avery pressed her body against the wall and struggled to listen to the conversation happening just around the corner.

"Do you love her?" Jade asked again.

"I don't know." Davey said. "But if you're going to be with her, she's not all that you think she is."

Jade was growing increasingly frustrated with Davey. "What does that mean?"

"Ask her what happened to her brother." Davey said, and turned, walking into his room and closing the door.

Avery could hear Jade's slow footsteps coming down the hallway, and she hurried to her place on the balcony where Jade had left her.

"He loves you, Avery." Jade said when he stepped next to her, placing both hands on the rail. "He won't admit it, but I know him well enough."

"I don't know if I love him back, Jade." Avery admitted. All this time she had thought Davey was mysterious, and that's what drew her in to him. But he was slowly coming apart and revealing himself. The mystery was disappearing, and now she wasn't sure she liked him anymore.

Jade gripped the railing tightly. "Tell me something, Avery."

"Anything." She touched his arm with both hands.

"What happened to your brother?"


End file.
